Meralco Bolts guard Baser Amer. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Meralco wasn’t ready to go home and its fast-rising point guard Baser Amer made sure the Bolts would live to fight another day.
Amer dropped a career-high 32 points to tow Meralco past TNT and into a deciding Game 3 for the last semifinals slot in the 2017 PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
“Coach reminded us this is a do-or-die for us so I told my teammates that we have to have an aggressive mentality from start to finish,” said Amer in Filipino.
READ: Amer drops 32 as Bolts take q’finals to decider
“I also don’t want to take an vacation because if we lost today, we would have to wait for another conference and losing gets really tiring,” Amer added. “I really want us to get to our main target which is to make the semifinals and we’ll see what happens after that.”
The second-year player out of San Beda shone bright but he didn’t want to bask in the glory alone as he shared the limelight with his teammates.
“It’s not just about me. All of us, we’re helping each other out especially on the defensive end,” he said.
READ: Amer thrives as he embraces role of leader for Bolts
Amer is also relishing the challenge of matching up against one of Asia’s best guards in Jayson Castro, whom he looks up to.
“Of course he’s one of my idols in the PBA. I like playing against players with his caliber and you can see that he’s going hard and he doesn’t want to lose,” he said.
READ: Well-rested Amer unmindful of Meralco’s long breaks
In Game 2 on Sunday, Amer outplayed Castro, who shot miserable 2-of-13 from the field to finish with only 12 points in the Bolts’ 103-100 victory in overtime.
“I idolize him and I don’t want to get outdone. If he wants a physical game then, I also need to be physical because at the end of the day, that’s how I’ll improve.”